The 2025 Winner of the first Anthony Roberts Cascade Blues Association CD Fund Grant

The Cascade Blues Association is honored to announce the winner(s) of our newest program that will lead to a lasting impact on our region’s blues community: the Anthony Roberts Cascade Blues Association CD Fund.

This fund, created through an endowment in memory of beloved community member Anthony Roberts, will award $10,000 to help a Pacific Northwest blues artist record and release their first commercial blues CD. It’s an opportunity to ensure that our region’s blues talent reaches audiences far beyond our local stages.

Applications were accepted October 1 – November 12, 2025, and were open to all CBA member musicians who live within the CBA’s geographic region and have not previously released a commercial CD. A review committee of experienced CBA members carefully considered all submissions using a fair and confidential scoring system, selecting the artist who showed the greatest potential to succeed — and who will most benefit from this pivotal step in their musical journey.

The ideal candidate has already made an impression in our blues community — through performances, participation in the Journey to Memphis competition, Muddy Award nominations and involvement with the CBA. The grant recipient was announced at the CBA Holiday Party on December 7, 2025.

The grant winner will have 18 months to complete their debut CD, with mentorship available from the CBA throughout the process. Once the album is ready, the CBA will help promote and help host the official CD release event.

We are excited to announce the results of this process and we are honored to be given this opportunity to perpetuate the memory of Anthony Roberts. His name will live on with each album release.

And the winner is….

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In addition, we’re excited to award $300 to Josh Makosky, who will use the funds to complete the production of his first commercially released Blues Album.